SALT LAKE CITY — Elizabeth Smart gazed unflinchingly at the man who held her captive and raped her daily for nine months in 2002. As he had done in court many times before, Brian David Mitchell quietly sang church hymns Wednesday, with his cuffed hands clasped together and his eyes closed.

But at the finale of Mitchell’s eight-year legal saga, the former homeless street preacher’s antics in federal court were overshadowed by an assertive Smart, who evenly delivered a message to the man who took so much from her when she was just 14.

Smart drew a deep breath after walking to the center of U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball’s courtroom, then turned and faced Mitchell, 57.

“I don’t have very much to say to you,” she told the unresponsive defendant.

“I know exactly what you did,” she continued. “I know that you know what you did was wrong. You did it with a full knowledge. I also want you to know that I have a wonderful life now, that no matter what you do, it will not affect me again.

“You took away nine months of my life that can never be returned. But in this life or next, you will have to be held responsible for those actions, and I hope you are ready for when that time comes.”

Smart’s powerful statement came minutes before Kimball ordered Mitchell to spend life behind bars for kidnapping Smart from her Salt Lake City bedroom to make her one of his wives.

Kimball called the circumstances of Mitchell’s crimes against Smart “unusually heinous and degrading.”

“A life sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime,” the judge said.

Smart’s father, Ed, also spoke to Mitchell, saying: “Your perversion and exploitation of religion is not a defense. It is disgusting, and it is an abuse that anyone should despise. You put Elizabeth through nine months of psychological hell.”

Mitchell never spoke in court but sang a string of hymns, starting with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

After the sentencing, a jubilant Smart, now 23, addressed reporters outside the courthouse, saying she didn’t care that Mitchell hadn’t the courage to look her in the eye. She said she doesn’t need an apology from him to move forward.

“Well, hallelujah,” Smart said, summing up her feelings about never again having to see or hear Mitchell again. “I heard enough during those nine months, and I never have to hear anything again.”

Prosecutors praised Smart for her poise and courage in sharing horrific details about the degradation she was subjected to by Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Hagen said Smart never balked at testifying about the graphic nature of Mitchell’s crimes.

“She has inspired other victims not to give up hope,” Hagen said. “She has inspired crime victims that you can come forward and talk about what has happened to you without any shame, and that the only person to blame is the perpetrator.”

Mitchell has 10 days to appeal his sentence. Defense attorney Parker Douglas said he said he has not heard much from Mitchell either way on the subject.

There is no parole in the federal system, meaning Mitchell will die in prison. It will be about a month before the Federal Bureau of Prisons decides where he will serve his time. Utah has no federal prison.

The sentence concludes a lengthy legal process for Mitchell, who spent years at the Utah State Hospital after a state court judge found him mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Alicia Cook said state prosecutors haven’t decided whether they will continue pursuing a state case against Mitchell now that he will be serving life in a federal prison.

Mitchell’s sentence follows prison time ordered for Barzee last year.

Barzee, 65, was sentenced last May after pleading guilty in federal court to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. She was sentenced to 15 years, but as part of a plea agreement, she received credit for the seven years she had already spent either at the Utah State Hospital or the Salt Lake County jail.

Barzee testified that Mitchell told her God wanted them to kidnap seven young girls to become plural wives as a way of restoring the true church to Earth during an end-of-times battle with the Antichrist.

Jurors have said Smart’s composed and detailed testimony played a key role in their decision to convict Mitchell.

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